Karachi mayor to be elected within two months

Islamabad, April 15 (IANS) Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Friday ordered that Karachi’s mayor and deputy mayor be elected through a secret ballot within 60 days.

A three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali passed the order after hearing a petition by the Sindh government against various appellants, Dawn online reported.

The court observed that an earlier amendment to the Sindh Local Government Act, 2013, requiring a show of hands for election of the top-most posts had “no legal effect” as the change was made after the election schedule had already been announced in August 2015.

The order said even though the government had the right to “legislate law to hold such elections either through a show of hands or by means of secret ballot”, in this case the amendment to the legislation was made “after announcement of the election schedule.”

The top court ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to ensure completion of the election process of local government in Sindh for the aforementioned offices and reserved seats within 60 days.